Debuted on December 17, 1989 The Simpsons is the longest running prime-time comedy series in the history of US television. The Simpsons show also holds the record for most guest stars in a television series.

The characters of this family conceived by Matt Groening are named after members of his own family.

The main characters of The Simpsons have yellow coloring to attract the attention of channel hoppers.

Since its debut The Simpsons has won over hundred of awards, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the show Marge Simpson "posed" naked for Playboy issue released in October, 2009.

Homer's exclamatory catchphrase “D'oh!” was included in the online version of The Oxford Dictionary (but without the apostrophe).

The Simpsons' writing team includes sixteen writers who propose their ideas for episodes at the beginning of each December. The Simpsons has six main cast members who speak the voices of the show’s characters.

Some of the sites featured in the episodes still exist, including the website Homer created to collect false 'dirt' on citizens of Springfield - www.mrxswebpage.com

In February 2009, with the season 20, the series began high-definition production, and the move to HDTV included a new opening sequence which until then didn’t change for 20 years.

The show contains plenty of cultural references, and its creators joke that they have parodied Citizen Kane so often that one could re-create the entire film solely from Simpsons clips.